I am Fatemeh Eftekhari, wife of Saeed Malekpour, the defendant named in the case known as Mozlin 3 related to internet crimes; file number D-87-9631-T.

After two years in ‘temporary’ detention, my husband is now accused of crimes that,with the aid of a computer expert, can easily be proven false in court. It is noteworthy that my husband has spent over 12 months of his “temporary” detention in solitary confinement, under severe physical, mental and psychological torture.

After 17 months of an unclear status, Saeed’s case was transferred to branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court with Judge Moghiseh. Saeed denied the charges against him and stated that he was forced to make false and self-incriminating confessions before the judge, while under intense physical torture and psychological pressure. This is occurring even though torture claims by another prisoner with a similar case file (he was interrogated for months by the IRGC cyber defense group ‘Padafand Cyberi’) were confirmed by the coroner’s office and [announced] by his family and Judge Salavati. Unfortunately, Judge Moghiseh has denied my husband’s requests to get examined by the coroner, despite the fact that he has visible signs of torture on his body.

Given the nature of the charges and the evidence presented by the cyber defense group, in order for my husband to [properly] present his defence, he needs [to have the ability to] hire a court-approved independent internet specialist and have access to the specialist and his lawyer in a technically equipped environment that has computer and internet access. Alas, Judge Moghiseh has also rejected this rightful request.

Even though my husband has not been charged with any crime by any court of law yet and despite the recorded legal and Islamic laws, unfortunately, the false confessions my husband gave are repeatedly aired by the Islamic Republic’s state television company Seda-o-Sima on the programs Shock and Gerdab, claiming the [false confession is part of a] ‘documentary’. These documentaries were professionally made using special sound and visual effects and were designed to destroy the characters of people like Saeed.

Even after one year had passed since the first time the documentaries aired, a court date had still not been set for Saeed. And now we have unfortunately learned that, according to a recent conversation that took place between Judge Moghiseh and Saeed’s lawyer Mr. Alizadeh Tabatabai, the judge is considering the death sentence for him.

To date, my husband’s case has only received a court time of 15 minutes in total. This proves that the sentence has been pre-determined without allowing my husband a chance to defend himself.

Dear Ayatollah Larijani,

We have sent multiple correspondences to judiciary officials to no avail. We have published this open letter in the hopes of receiving an answer. The refusal to inform Saeed about the details of his charges and evidence thereof (particularly given the fact that upon incarceration he was ‘forced’ to sign the bottom of several blank papers), denying him routine visits with his lawyer, rejecting his rightful request for investigation of his case by independent technical specialists in order to determine the nature of the charges, exaggerating and creating false records easily proven by technical specialists, and presenting such records to the judge as evidence of Saeed’s crime stand proof of violations of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s judicial and criminal laws.

In a telephone conversation several months ago, my husband explained all the instances when his civil and human rights were violated (rights reflected in the laws of the Islamic Republic). The violations occurred during the time of his arrest and interrogation process. He asked me to submit the audio file of the [telephone] conversation to the judiciary officials for investigation. I hereby enclose the mentioned file for your review. And from you, your Excellency, the supreme judge who is the ultimate refuge and saviour of the meek and injured, I humbly ask that, before issuing the final verdict, you order an investigation into the aforementioned issues and the violations of Saeed’s civil rights.